Luxury sedans put to the test at Autoweek/ZF Fantasy Camp

July 10, 2012

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This year marked the third-annual Autoweek/ZF Fantasy Camp, a golden opportunity for you, our ultrapassionate readers, to become one of “us” for a day. Twenty readers drive 10 cars on track, evaluate them and write about them. Yes, there's even a deadline!

If you haven't made it to a camp yet, you really must. You're missing a blast.

Here's how it works: We, the Autoweek editors, pick a category of vehicle. This year, we chose luxury sedans with base prices of less than $70,000. Every eligible car fitting this description was posted on autoweek.com for the month of February, and readers choose the top 10. Those 10, plus two alternates, were invited to camp.

The final tallies produced some heady company, including such bright lights as the Audi A6, the Chrysler 300 SRT, the Lexus LS and the just-introduced Hyundai Equus. The United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Japan—even Korea—were all well represented.

Next we select who gets to come. In early January, we sent a note to the Autoweek e-mail database letting readers know that an invitation would be coming soon. (The invite goes only to Autoweek Advisory Board members. Click here to sign up.) It went out at the end of the month, and the first 20 people to register were in. Each year the camp has sold out in 15 minutes. You guys are a fanatical bunch, but we knew that.

After an evening of dinner, drinks, gabbing and cigars, we got the campers up early and went to Ford's Dearborn test tack.

First, Ford's Kevin Markham gave a drive briefing, explaining what campers could expect from the cars and from each other and, of course, he emphasized safety. As Ford's global driver trainer and track-safety boss, Markham trains Ford's test engineers around the world. Oh, and he's done high-speed testing of NASCAR stockers. In other words, he knows whereof he speaks.

After he shared his expertise, each car was driven and pored over and evaluated inside and out. In addition to the on-track experience, there were break-out sessions on ride, handling and performance, exterior and interior design and the fun factor.

Campers also rode as passengers and discussed the cars among themselves before giving the cars scores and writing reviews. Throughout the two days, racing legend Tommy Kendall imparted wisdom, told stories and generally entertained everyone.

Yes, it's a lot of fun. But it's also important work: Putting real-world enthusiasts—readers—behind the wheel of rival cars gives you a voice. We're gathering not only the professional-journalist points of view but enthusiast points of view as well, influencing friends and neighbors. It's an invaluable combination and a rare one.

As Markham put it, “Imparting driving verve to those who care is sweet!”